Thermal, CA – January 30, 2025 – Thursday evening’s $117,000 CSI5*-W Visit Greater Palm Springs 1.55m Grand Prix Qualifier at Desert Circuit 4 came down to a hotly contested race against the clock, but no one would come within a second and a half of Mathijs Van Asten and Cassina Dior’s winning time.
Van Asten – who made the trip to Thermal, CA, from his home country of the Netherlands – crossed the finish in 31.89 seconds to take home the victory – and he impressively did so without even initially planning to win.
“If I’m very honest, I really was not planning to go for the win,” explained Van Asten. “It sounds a bit stupid, I know. I changed something with the bridle which I wanted to try, and I actually thought I could use the jump off to try and then I don’t have to do it on Saturday evening in the [$340,000 CSI5*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ – Thermal]. I was one to two nice in seven strides – what everybody did – but then I got a really short turn to number three, really tight, and I felt she was jumping great. I thought, ‘It’s such a good class, a big money class, why should I not just keep on going like this!?’”
And that’s just what Van Asten did, ultimately taking home the win as the only rider to break under the 32-second mark. The four additional riders in the top five all crossed the finish in between 33.54 – 33.86 seconds.
Second place went to Shawn Casady and Cool Quarz, owned by Morning Star Sporthorses LLC, with a time of 33.54 seconds. Third place went to Skylar Wireman who piloted Barclino B, owned by the Wireman Investment Group, to a time of 33.68 seconds. Finishing in fourth with a time of 33.74 seconds were Erynn Ballard and Gakhir, and Conor Swail and Theo 160 finished fifth on 33.86 seconds.
Second place went to Shawn Casady and Cool Quarz, owned by Morning Star Sporthorses LLC, with a time of 33.54 seconds. Third place went to Skylar Wireman who piloted Barclino B, owned by the Wireman Investment Group, to a time of 33.68 seconds. Finishing in fourth with a time of 33.74 seconds were Erynn Ballard and Gakhir, and Conor Swail and Theo 160 finished fifth on 33.86 seconds.
“It was for sure [a big enough track] for under the lights, the first day qualification 1.55m,” said Van Asten. “I think the horses jumped very well. Cassina Dior, she came from Phillip Steiner from New Zealand. We purchased her in August. We bought her together with the family Backsell from Sweden, a longtime partner.”
In speaking of the 13-year-old New Zealand Warmblood mare, owned by Lars Backsell and Van Asten & Nijberg Equestrian, Van Asten continued, “We thought we wanted to buy a horse a little bit for the sport, and we are very, very happy that we found her. It looks like she has a lot of capacity. We are looking forward to the future.”
In the immediate future, Van Asten will be focused on Saturday night’s $340,000 CSI5*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ – Thermal, one of the highlight events of Desert Circuit at the Desert International Horse Park.
For full results of Thursday’s $117,000 CSI5*-W Visit Greater Palm Springs 1.55m Grand Prix Qualifier, click here.
